Anheuser-Busch InBev has brewed the league’s official beer since 1998Stephen Gosling/NBAE via Getty Images
Michelob Ultra, whose NBA playoff TV assets included marquee baseline signage in all games, earned more than $290M in equivalent media value (EMV), according to industry analysts Hive, more than any brand tracked. The EMV was calculated from more than 68 hours of cumulative screen time during playoff telecasts and from every social media post from league, team and major sports news accounts.
Identifiable brand exposures are valued by their prominence (i.e., size, clarity, centrality, and clutter) and the cost of traditional advertising within the corresponding TV program and/or social media platform. Hive’s calculations exclude apparel, league, team, and network logos.
Anheuser-Busch InBev has brewed the league’s official beer since 1998.
Overall, nonendemic brands whose logos were recognized as one of the more than 10,500 images in Hive’s AI platform combined to generate an estimated $1.7B in media value, nearly triple the approximately $615M that was spent to advertise during traditional commercial slots in the telecasts.
Playing area assets such as physical and digital on-court, baseline and sideline signage accounted for approximately 52% of total value. Pole pad branding (13%) and basket stanchion branding (11%) were the next most valuable assets.
Jersey patches collectively tallied 8% of total brand value. However, the effectiveness of patch logos varied by brand based on the identifiability and prominence of the logo. For example, Love's patch on the Thunder jerseys -- large and square -- generated 4.2 equivalent ad units per game, which is 1.5X the 2.7 equivalent ad units generated by Chime's text-only patch on the Mavericks jerseys.
"As a smaller sized asset, the orientation and clarity of jersey patch logos have a significant impact on their identifiability on camera and, ultimately, the value they produce for brands," said Marshall Fisher, director of sports, media, and marketing solutions at Hive. "Typically, brands with more visual logos tend to generate more media value from these asset types than brands with text-centric logos."
